Well now, it's usually me who writes for this site, but this isn't the case with this brief essay. Normally I like the sound of my own voice, but I stand aside for my guest, Jon Raney
Just who is Jon Raney? Well, Jon is an outstanding musician, in fact, part of a lineage of outstanding musicians. He’s also quite the wit. I first encountered him through Garageband when he reviewed one of my songs. I wrote a little note to thank him. He wrote back and at some point in the exchange of emails, it turned out that he had written a brief essay on artistic originality. I thought it was such a perceptive piece of writing that I wanted to let you all see it and so, with his kind permission I’ve put it on site. I also asked him some questions after the essay and the answers were just as interesting as the essay.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE QUESTIONS I PUT TO JON AND YOU CAN ALSO FIND OUT A LITTLE ABOUT THE OUTSTANDING MUSICAL LINEAGE HE IS PART OF. YOU CAN ALSO FIND A LINK TO JON JUST SO YOU KNOW I'M NOT GHOST WRITING THIS : )
Geetan
A BRIEF ESSAY ON ARTISTIC ORIGINALITY
by Jon Raney
Copyright July 2005 Jon Raney
When it comes to imitation I have some very specific ideas about this and the goal of the artist in general. Although there are very few musicians who are able to walk in the shoes of our established greats and really pull it off, they are way fewer that can actually make an original artistic impression that later generations can build upon. This latter point I will get to later.
I'm not obsessed with originality but I think there's a question of going to far. It's a question of investment. If you have talent--how far do you invest in copying and learning the music of others? A few cuts? Or twenty or thirty? When you adore an artist it becomes difficult because you are just drawn to investigating what they do and emulating that. But I think at certain point you have to learn your lessons but then really investigate who am I? with all the possible focus you can muster towards solidifying your own sound. Because you can run the risk of never discovering yourself if you're so steeped in someone else. This can be come a time sensitive issue. The old cliché, “if you love somebody let them go”, would apply here.
And there are examples of this in established artists. There are some that show their influences but managed to develop it in a unique way, which you can also hear, or at least hear the beginnings of something new. This is something that can deepen as the artist gets on in his career. For example Stan Getz, who really sounded a lot like Lester Young in the beginning, had enough of a core difference that he could develop away from that root and branch into a different flower. There are others, even great musicians, who never truly find their voice, only their musicianship and musical skill. For me this is a shame and again it's a question of self-investigation and dedication to the art. These two tracks would be artists who copy one person too much: a copycat, or artists that copy a whole host of people too much: a chameleon without their own personality. In my case the obvious influence is Bill Evans and I have written a dedication song to him (Dedicated to Bill) and a few other pieces, which intentionally or not, show his influence. But I think most would hear the influence but also hear some other things, for example my solo phrasing, is not like him. Whether I am succeeding is for others decide.
You might say, what's so bad about copying a great artist and sounding 95% like him? Nothing per se but it's a question of the artistic continuum and integrity. If you value the art you have a responsibility of being the best "you" you can be. Why? Because of it's importance to others and where that can go. This is how music develops a movement and has positive influence. Where would the artistic field be if everybody sounded like everybody else? Nowhere, right? This is actually the artistic problem right now. Too much information and too many copies. It just confuses the issue, bringing the art into this black hole. Narrow in scope and infinitely dense-sucking everything in.
In final you need to evaluate what and how you practice and make an honest assessment of what is you are saying within the genre you’ve chosen to focus on. You also need to pay attention to those little “glimmers of the larger” that happens sometimes when you practice with intensity for a certain period of time. I believe that sometimes the fear of failure or confronting emptiness within, or sometimes even competitive or commercially driven fears, can be contributory towards taking your eye off the ball, so to speak. We all go through this. But the earlier you solve this issue, the better- before you develop the entire bulwark of your language. The only thing you can do really is to stop trying to be conscious of your quest for originality and just focus and refocus on the improvement of your message. If you are pragmatist, I find that simply copying your favourite phrases from a different instrumentalist is helpful. The same phrase on another instrument sounds wholly different. You should also expose yourself to as much different music of quality as possible; but be vigilant- don’t accept the “greatness” of something without submitting it to your own personal verification. If you have difficulty with the assessment, read the assessment of an artist whom you admire and be very wary of critics. If you want proof, just compare critical reviews of artists of countless great works of any art and compare an updated review years later. You can see how transitory the statements of a self inflated critic can be.
Think of it this way: the deepening of your message to the listener goes hand in hand with the focus and refinement you apply towards what you do. The listener appreciates the attention to detail because they want to be drawn into the world you create for them. The more refined the message the more the listener gets drawn into the artistry which is beneath the idiom itself; that metaphysical plain where he or she can draw parallels to other disciplines, memories and feelings that are within their personal continuum. Listeners are drawn to artist because they feel a spiritual connection to them—they want to know the person who arouses these feelings within because they are unique. This is akin to spiritual love and it is unique and its power to transform our day-to-day lives is monumental and we should do whatever we can to seek it out. Both the listener and the musician bear this responsibility. So keep up your end of the contract. There is a payoff.
CLICK HERE FOR THE QUESTIONS I PUT TO JON
